The Coral Kingdom

'Really?' Alicia was astounded to think that the truculent elven warrior had displayed such kindness.

Trillhalla laughed, sensing her thoughts. 'Actually, I'm sure he thought it would keep you confined and allow his scouts to keep an eye on you. But I'm glad if you find the surroundings pleasant.'

The princess looked upward at the circle of rocky precipice that surrounded them a hundred feet above. Somehow even the thought of armed and watchful elves up there didn't detract from her pastoral sense of peace.

Brigit emerged from the forest behind them, and Trillhalla urged the pair to join her for a swim. The three females splashed through the water for some time, diving after schools of fish, exploring the coral formations under the pool. Finally they rested, Brigit and Alicia emerging from the water to flop onto the sand, already growing warm in the sun.

'I hope that you will all be comfortable here,' said the silver-haired sea elf wistfully, relaxing in the water near the grotto's sandy beach.

Alicia and Brigit laughed. 'I can't imagine anyplace more comfortable,' replied the princess. Again she remembered her father, and a storm of guilt assailed her. She tried to force it aside, reminding herself that there was nothing they could do until the longship had been made seaworthy.

'Even Synnoria pales by comparison,' Brigit added seriously.

For a time, in the warmth of the sun, they found it possible to forget about their quest, about the dangers that lay ahead. They had worked so hard to get this far that a few hours of leisure seemed no more than a just reward.

Trillhalla remained in the water but allowed her shoulders and arms to emerge as she looked at her visitors curiously. 'It took great courage and great skill to reach our shores. It's quite a remarkable achievement, you know.'

'There was no other way,' replied the princess with a shrug. It was hard now for her to remember the tension and fear of their harrowing voyage.

'Your father is a great man. You must love him very much,' noted the sea elf.

Alicia looked at her in surprise. Trillhalla spoke with a frankness that disconcerted the human woman. 'That's true, I suppose. I–I just had to do something as long as there was any hope of success. I guess we all did.'

'I wish you fortune for the remainder of your voyage.'

The talk of their mission made Alicia restless again, and she sat up. 'When do you think the supplies will get here?' asked the princess.

'Soon now, I should think,' Trillhalla explained. 'Palentor was placed in charge of their acquisition, and he's a fast and forthright worker.'

'Even to aid those he despises?' asked Brigit wryly.

'He is a loyal servant of his queen,' Trillhalla replied. 'And besides, do not judge him too harshly. He commands the sea elves who patrol this portion of the shoreline. He was quite mortified that your craft made it so close to land.'

As if to punctuate the sea elf's explanation, a long canoe came into view down the water channel that connected the grotto to the sea. A scowling Palentor sat in the bow, supervising the dark-haired elves who paddled the craft. The hull of the vessel, Alicia could see, was piled high with stacks of lumber and materials.

The male sea elf, they soon saw, rode the first of four great boats, each wider and heavier than the canoe that had carried the visitors to the Summer Palace. And each contained supplies necessary to repair the bruised longship-barrels of tar, iron for nails, even a bellows to fan Knaff's makeshift forge.

The females went to join Brandon and the others at the grotto's small dock, where the first canoe drew alongside. The boats were so big that they could only be unloaded one at a time, but eager northmen quickly formed a chain of workers, passing the crates and barrels from the elven craft to the work area, where Knaff supervised their organization and placement.

'You must be finished within five days!' barked the sea elf, standing straight before the prince of Gnarhelm and meeting him with his almond-shaped eyes.

'The queen said we could take as long as we needed!' objected Alicia, drawing the sea elf's angry eyes to herself.

He didn't withdraw from her gaze, but Palentor seemed surprised when the human woman stood up to his aggressive stare. Finally he blinked and cleared his throat. 'I shall request independent confirmation of that fact. Your presence here is a disruption to our defenses. You place this entire coast in jeopardy!'

'I thought you said we were the first ship to make it this far. What do you guard against, then?' demanded Alicia, heating up to the confrontation.

'The surface of the sea may be blocked,' replied the sea elf, his tone sincere, 'and the cyclones may raise a barrier into the sky. But we have no control as to what passes beneath the surface of the sea, and it is the sahuagin and their foul kin, the scrags, who are our most persistent enemies.'

'It's a relief to hear that humans don't fill that role all the time!' Alicia retorted. 'Think-you've just named our enemies as well as your own!'

Palentor flushed, his mottled skin growing dark green. His lips stretched taut across his mouth, and for a second, Alicia wondered if he would strike at her. Her own fists clenched, reacting to the fury of his gaze. But then his expression softened-albeit minimally.

'It's true. Though we have prepared all our lives for the human menace, the only battles we have fought have been against the creatures of the deep.'

'Then can't you see that we're not the enemy?' the princess demanded.

Suddenly Palentor's gaze narrowed, and Alicia felt uncomfortable as she saw his eyes boring into her. When he next spoke, it was with passion, not anger. 'But for the elves. . don't you see? Evermeet is everything! You humans will claim all the great continents eventually-Toril, Maztica, Kara-Tur. . The elven populations in those places are shrinking, have been for thousands of years.'

His voice dropped, but the princess sensed that he really did want her to see. 'We must keep Evermeet secure, else our race will die out.'

'I understand,' she replied sincerely, and for the first time, she started to grasp the millennia-long conflict that had driven the elves to this island. 'Please, Palentor-realize that we are not a threat to your island. We're grateful for the help of your queen.. and yourself, but when we leave we won't be coming back.'

'But others-'

'We won't tell people how we got here! And no other ship or captain could make it through your cyclones!' the princess argued, with a touch of exasperation.

Palentor looked at Brandon with a hint of respect mingling with the constant suspicion in his eyes. The sea elf turned back to Alicia, his expression hardening to its familiar lines. 'I must see to the debarking of cargo,' he said stiffly, turning back to the great canoes.

But the princess was gratified when she looked into those green, almond-shaped eyes, because for the first time, besides the anger and suspicion, she saw a hint of doubt.

The prisoner's mind continued to grow as his body purged itself of the memory-suppressing drug. He recalled things-images and sensations-but still had difficulty attaching names to those memories. He knew that he had been a king and sensed that this was a great thing, but he couldn't name his kingdom or remember his subjects.

The loss of his hand had grown in his mind, becoming more than a wound. It was an affront, an attack against his pride that he could not let stand. He had no clear memory of who had cut it off, but when that memory returned, someone-or something-would die. The man knew that he had killed before, and he remembered that killing was not a pleasant task, but sometimes a necessary one.

Most tantalizing of his recent memories was the image of a woman-a person of exquisite beauty and great tenderness. Her hair, long and black and silky, he recalled particularly. His mind drifted to images of that hair, of his hand stroking it, of his woman lying in a sun-speckled field of heather, with birds soaring above and towers of white piercing the sky near them.

It was an idyllic sensation, and for a moment, the recollection swept him along, warming his heart and even bringing an unconscious smile to his face. Then the memory dissipated and he looked around at his dank cell, and once again the rage began to swell.

This fury of his became a constant companion. It drove him to restless periods of pacing when he stalked the